Routine vehicle stop leads to recovery of stolen property

On Saturday, 20 October 2012, Whakatäne staff recovered stolen property from a burglary during a routine vehicle stop. Follow up enquiries by Eastern Bay of Plenty Police staff resulted in a search warrant being executed at a Kawerau address on Sunday 21, October 2012.

This address has links to gang activity and during the search a number of firearms and boxes of ammunition were located, some of which have been identified as stolen property.

Inspector Sandra Venables, Area Commander for Eastern Bay of Plenty says staff are committed to getting on top of the offending that is occurring in our communities.

"We make no apology for maintaining the pressure on known gang members and their associates. Burglaries are continuing to be an issue in our area and experience shows us that many gang members have an ongoing involvement in a range of crimes including burglaries, stolen vehicles and drugs.”

A 26 year old male is to appear in court charged with burglary and a 51 year old male is to appear on charges of receiving stolen property, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of a pistol. Enquiries are ongoing.